The Kambui Files

Says Dr. Cornell West to The Guardian (UK) about President Obama.

If the subject matter wasn’t so serious, I would joke about how there’s nothing like a crisis to force those fabled post-racial green shoots to appear across the land. Oops…

song currently stuck in my head: “think tank” - pat martino

Interesting policy debate: which has a more attractive return — $10/day childcare or corp tax breaks for the same money?

song currently stuck in my head: “outta limits (shelter mix)” - mission control

(Source: viaggiatoressa, via writingcapital)

While you look at these two St. Louis Fed graphs of historical corporate profits and wages paid while having a WTH moment, let me explain how capitalism is supposed to work.

Capitalism is not simply a business or group of businesses, it’s an ECOSYSTEM. More on that later.

The deal is simple – investors find a problem in society to be solved through a business and they invest money in that business with the justifiable requirement for a strong return for their investment and risk-taking.

Workers help to solve the problem in question by making or delivering goods and services sold by that business as part of the mission to solve this problem. In return, these workers are paid a fair wage so they can also buy goods and services within the ecosystem. These workers should also be able to save money in case they may decide to become business owners and investors one day.

Governments at various jurisdictions ensure that workers and businesses do not screw each other, but governments also encourage the growth of new businesses and industries through research, tax breaks and other incentives.

Looking at middle class incomes remain flat or decline over the past 30 years while household expenses continue to increase [PDF] tells me two things – that arguing about whether blue or red guys caused this crisis is pointless, and that policymakers and businesses had better get a clue about how capitalism works.

Which brings up the ecosystem I mentioned. Ecosystem imbalances can be more dangerous and expensive than addressing the root cause—which in this case means creating prosperous workers…

song currently stuck in my head: “don’t give up on me baby” - the dynamic superiors

Cat Food Watch: In case you were wondering who’s most vulnerable of falling into poverty should Congress choose to drive the economy over the fiscal cliff, look at this graph compiled by the Economic Policy Institute from the US Census’ Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM). Yeah, homeowners and taxpayers are included in these figures..

song currently stuck in my head: “topsy” - chico hamilton quartet

Cat Food Watch: Citigroup Vice Chairman Peter Orszag has a truckload of nerve offering Social Security as a sacrificial program to resolve the debt ceiling and fiscal cliff fight in Congress when [1] he knows better than anyone that Social Security is not a major deficit catalyst and [2] his banking brethren received more than USD 7.7 trillion in liquidity support from the US government or the Fed during the financial crisis in the form of asset purchases and cheap loans.

Just a reminder and friendly warning – Orszag was President Obama’s first Budget Director. You have to ask yourself “What’s the fascination with Social Security if the program is not a major deficit driver…?”

song currently stuck in my head: “get another plan (extended mix)” – the abstract truth

One. Perhaps the forced eating habits of the poor and the elderly are long running rumors, but I’m still calling this Fiscal Cliff drama Cat Food Watch. I’ll have much more to say about this in the coming days.

Two. How quickly would we have a Fiscal Cliff to worry about if members of Congress had minimum wage incomes?

Three. Why does the general public treat this so-called cliff as some lawful inevitability like gravity or supply and demand when the situation is purely a creation of Congress?

Four. Should the tax increases and spending cuts take effect at the end of the year due to Congress’ dysfunctional behavior in dealing with the debt ceiling, who do you think will fare better over the subsequent 24 months – the military, the poor, or the elderly folks?

Five. Suppose your home was on fire and you told your family that the options ahead were to put the blaze out immediately or prepare for the hurricane “predicted” to hit your community two decades from now, how long would it take for your family to smack you in the dome, remove your Co-Head of the Household title and toss you out? You now have an idea of how I feel about the Great Recession, the debt ceiling and Congress…

song currently stuck in my head: “take it to the top” – sunburst band feat. angela johnson

General Colin Powell endorses President Obama for reelection.

Powell’s phrase, “I’m not quite sure which Governor Romney we would be getting with respect to foreign policy” is a euphemism for “I’m afraid the Governor has a multiple personality disorder!”

[Laughing] Think about it – your boss would forcibly remove you from your cubicle and put you in a rubber room if you changed your mind as often as Romney has, but he’s still in the running to take the world’s most powerful gig!

Question – does the General’s stamp of approval matter at this point?

song currently stuck in my head: “give me your love” - sylvia striplin

This is America, so whether you vote for President Obama or Governor Romney this November 6 is ultimately your right, but why do some of you act as if the country has banned free education for the past 50 years?

More about Leakey, Texas’ Pastor Ray Miller of Church in the Valley and his “Vote for the Mormon, Not the Muslim” sign from San Antonio’s KENS 5 News…

President Obama’s performance during last week’s debate against Mitt Romney and the expectation of some people that Paul Ryan will mop the floor with Vice President Joe Biden during tonight’s verbal joust reminds me of the very early days of my professional life when I was interviewed by company recruiters and I would constantly receive feedback that I didn’t appear enthusiastic during these conversations – to blazes with how well I may have answered the questions presented or how much I knew about these companies. The expectation was that I would sit at the edge of my seat with a wide-eyed look as if I was down to give the interviewer a lap dance if getting exotic meant I had a shot at landing the gig. Leaning back in the chair and speaking in a thoughtful, mellow tone made my audience think hard about whether or not they should stuff money in my vest.

Like it or not, we live in a semaphoric society of cobbled short attention spans where flashy displays mean damn-near everything – just make sure you don’t flash for too long since doing so runs contrary to the other societal custom of making quick conclusions from only seconds of data and almost no factual detail. President Obama would’ve fetched better numbers if sang his message to Romney last week.

I understand, Messrs. President and Vice President. There’s no need to tell me what you’re thinking right now. I get it, and I won’t write it. Nevertheless, the amount of money spent so far makes it easy to conclude you guys really want these gigs, which means you better reach for the stilettos and start dancing for the next three weeks…

song currently stuck in my head: “blue sunset” – michel sardaby